Trader Joe's Now Has Dairy-Free Mozzarella Shreds and BRB, I'm Making Pizza!

Trader Joe's Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds are made from curing a cashew base for several weeks to develop its complex flavours. What makes this product different from the Almond Mozzarella Style Shreds Trader Joe's has had for years is that this is completely vegan — those other shreds contain casein (milk protein).

When I looked at the list of ingredients, it's short and pretty basic: cashew base (water, cashews), coconut oil, potato starch, modified cornflour, sea salt, natural flavours, yeast extract, cultures, and annato extract (for colour).

I like that this cheese is made from cashews, which is a common ingredient in vegan recipes to add smooth creaminess. Other vegan mozzarella shreds are made with a longer list of ingredients that includes oil, calcium phosphate, and xanthan gum.

A quarter-cup serving of these Trader Joe's Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds is 80 calories, and has seven grams of fat and five grams of saturated fat (because of the coconut oil). There are 230 milligrams of sodium, five grams of carbs, and no sugar. It doesn't offer any fibre or protein.

Daiya and Follow Your Heart are two of my favourite brands of vegan mozzarella, and compared to Trader Joe's, all three offer similar nutrition. Trader Joe's has three fewer grams of carbs than Daiya, and 50 fewer milligrams of sodium than Follow Your Heart.

It looks like real shredded mozzarella cheese, doesn't it? At first glance, I was thoroughly impressed.

Trader Joe's Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds taste delicious straight out of the bag, so go ahead and sprinkle shredded cheese on a salad or bowl of soup. It offers that creamy saltiness you crave.

What about the meltiness? For the test, I made some whole wheat pizza bagels for my kiddos, and these shreds passed! Trader Joe's Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds melt perfectly. It's not super stringy like regular mozzarella cheese, but it's soft and melty, and so yummy!

For $4, a bag of this Trader Joe's Dairy Free Mozzarella Style Shreds is pretty reasonable. Other popular brands usually cost a little more, and this tastes and melts just as well!